Columns and blogs are great resources to utilize in the beauty and fashion world. However, text on a page can only go so far. The beauty behind YouTube fashion vlogs is that the vloggers can not just tell, but show their viewers what they’re trying to explain.

Beauty gurus like Michelle Phan and Dulce Candy have been around for ages. However, some newer gurus have started using YouTube as a platform to discuss beauty and fashion, and they definitely don’t disappoint. You can learn how to do just about anything from these lovely ladies, including how to do a fishtail braid and how to pull off a monochromatic look.

Wendy’s Lookbook is a popular beauty blog recommended by Daily columnist Keya Teklu as a resource for updating your look. (Courtesy of Keya Teklu)

Because of the overwhelmingly large number of beauty gurus that post videos on YouTube, it can be hard to find quality channels. The following list will help you figure out who the most helpful digital gurus are:

Wendy’s Lookbook (Subscribers: 479,307):This girl is hands down the best fashion guru on YouTube. That is not even my opinion — that is straight-up fact. Her videos are a perfect storm of high-quality video production value, an extremely sophisticated fashion sense and a wonderfully electric personality. Wendy’s style is super relevant to the 20-something crowd because most of her outfits are tailored to be business-professional/business-casual. If you are having trouble figuring out what to wear to an interview or a more formal meeting, Wendy’s Lookbook is the perfect channel to check out. Also, she is very useful if you’re looking to mature your closet. And don’t even get me started on her personality. She is the happiest, bubbliest and most amusing guru in the business, and that speaks a lot to the quality of her videos. Who wants to view a video, no matter how informative or useful, if the vlogger is boring? You tune in to Wendy’s channel for the content, but you stay for the personality.

Zoella (Subscribers: 2,624,959):This guru has a massive online following, and for good reason. Her fashion sense is super girly, and her personality is even girlier. Her channel is a combination of makeup, hair and fashion videos, which makes her extremely versatile, especially when compared to other YouTube gurus. Gurus typically tend to stick to their niches (either makeup, hair or fashion) and rarely ever branch out into the other aspects of beauty, but Zoella does it all, and she does it well. Did I mention she’s British? What’s not to love about this guru? Also, her British guy friends tend to guest on her channel quite often, so, if nothing else, you can subscribe to Zoella to see (and, more importantly, hear) beautiful men speaking in British accents.

Sprinkle of Glitter (Subscribers: 813,731): Sprinkle of Glitter, aka Louise, is Zoella’s best friend, but their styles could not be more different. While Zoella tends to gravitate towards the girlier and younger-looking outfits, Louise gravitates towards outfits that are simple and sophisticated. She is also a great channel for curvy girls, because many of her videos focus specifically on curvy fashion trends and lookbooks. In addition, she is ridiculously hilarious. I’m confident that if she had not become a YouTube beauty guru, her back-up career would have been a comedian. She is genuinely unlike any guru I’ve ever seen, because her videos, even without fashion advice, are still entertaining. If she created a channel that had nothing to do with fashion, I would still watch it, and it would be amazing. I can’t really say that about many other beauty gurus.

Patricia Bright (Subscribers: 318,349): It can be hard to find a woman of color who has a successful channel on YouTube, but look no further than Patricia Bright. Her videos focus on makeup and fashion, and while her fashion videos are great for inspiration, her makeup videos are what really set her apart. Because she is darker skinned, she uses her channel to recommend makeup products that work well for women of color (and there are surprisingly very few brands that cater to the makeup needs of darker women). In fact, I personally found it so difficult to shop for beauty products until I stumbled upon her channel, and it has totally changed which products I will purchase. She is also really entertaining to watch. Some of her videos are longer than 15 minutes, but its easy to stay fully engaged the entire time.

Mimi Ikonn (Subscribers: 75,897): You may know Mimi from her much more popular channel, LuxyHair, which has over one million subscribers, but her second channel, Mimi Ikonn, is every bit as inspirational and useful. This channel focuses on fashion (while LuxyHair is more for hairstyle tutorials), and Mimi’s fashion is stunning, always on point. She also likes to explain whya certain fashion trend or piece looks good rather than just showing the finished product. She really works with her audience to develop a more fine-tuned fashion sense, and her video entitled “What Colors Work for You” is a perfect example of this. In this bit, she breaks down the process of dressing well step by step, starting with something as simple as color choice, and working her way up. This makes her ideal for beginners to the fashion world. I cannot think of a better tour guide into the fashion industry than Ikonn.

There are many more gurus who deserve honorable mention, including Andrea’s Choice (great for DIY’s), ItsJudyTime, MissGlamorazzi and more. YouTube is an expansive place filled with thousands and thousands of beauty gurus with different styles and personalities, but the ladies that I’ve listed embody, in my opinion, the ideal beauty guru, in both fashion sense and personality. Happy YouTube watching, fellow fashionistas!

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